Free Competition Zone, Emerald Star Cluster, Black Star Army frontline exploration outpost.
In the spacious, silver-white training room, Hila sat cross-legged in mid-air, her eyes slightly closed, her breath long and even. Streams of red light surrounded her, and the energy fluctuations emanating from her made the high-collared cape of the "Red Snake - First Generation" battle suit resemble a swirling black and red cloud.
Before her floated a ball of bright red, highly concentrated death energy, and in the center of the red, there was a faint golden spot of light, from which golden threads like blood vessels extended, spreading with difficulty.
Just then, Hila suddenly frowned, and the energy cluster in front of her suddenly boiled, as if a violent chemical reaction had occurred. It exploded with a bang, and a pale red energy shockwave spread out, echoing in the room.
"It failed again, sister."
Aurora's frustrated voice suddenly echoed in Hila's mind.
"It's nothing, it's not your fault." Hila shook her head.
With the qualitative changes in the strength and control of superpowers, superhumans are able to develop more uses and effects for their abilities.
The two already had a unique life force link, which was further strengthened after Aurora reached the Calamity Grade, giving rise to a two-way telepathic connection, allowing them to communicate directly with each other in their hearts.
The transmission of life energy is inherently limited by distance, but the project the two are developing aims to create an energy transmission channel that disregards distance. It is not yet successful, and they are still searching for a way to achieve this.
Aurora has reached the Calamity Grade, Hila finally feels that she is capable of protecting herself, so she no longer restricts Aurora using her powers and consuming life energy.
"Sister, the life link that transcends distance is actually in its nascent stage. I can send out my life energy, but I can't transmit it to you."
"It wasn't entirely a failure." Hila nodded, pondering, "Actually, I received a trace amount of life energy, but the energy loss along the way was too severe. I could only receive about one ten-thousandth of the original amount. In my perception, most of your energy seemed to have been absorbed by an unknown Secondary Dimension along the way, and that Secondary Dimension actually had a faint connection with me; I could sense its existence."
"Really? I didn't feel anything." Aurora in surprise.
"I only sensed it after advancing to Beyond Grade A. I feel that to complete the link, I might need to overcome this obstacle first. I previously tried to input death energy into this Secondary Dimension in reverse, but as soon as the energy entered, it lost contact with me. I'm afraid I'll have to go there in person sometime. I have a feeling there might be some secrets inside that are related to us... Let's just consider it Beyond Grade A intuition for now."
As she spoke, Hila shook her head, raised a finger, and hovered a bright golden dot of light at her fingertip, about the size of a peanut, which was a trace amount of Aurora life energy.
With a flick of her eyes, she manipulated a sesame-seed-sized particle of death energy to merge into this mass of life energy. The next moment, a brilliant light shone as the two energies fused together, the red and gold light spots becoming one, transforming into a single golden-orange light spot.
"Sister, you've successfully fused!" Aurora with delight.
"No, I'm still figuring out the fusion ratio; currently, I can only blend a small amount of energy."
Hila let out a soft breath. She and Aurora had tried to merge their energies a long time ago, but due to insufficient control over their powers, they had never succeeded and kept exploding. At the time, they thought it was because their energies clashed.
Now that Hila has reached Beyond Grade A, Aurora's power and stability have also reached the Calamity Grade, Hila has tried to fuse them again. She then discovered that their energies can actually be mixed, but they are unstable and require powerful manipulation to maintain balance.
After fusion, it becomes a golden-orange energy (https://m. hetushu. com). The energy properties seem to have completely changed. Although the healing and killing effects are still there, these two properties are not strengthened but rather greatly weakened. At this time, Hila has not yet figured out what special effects this fused energy has.
Just then, the notification tone for the communication request suddenly sounded.
"Beep beep."
A virtual screen appeared before them, and the adjutant, his face still showing shock, said, "Your Hila Hela, the leader of the Arcane Church wishes to speak with you. Would you like to transfer me?"
Hila's pupils constricted slightly.
She was quite surprised that such a high-ranking person had suddenly approached her.
She thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Take it."
Soon, the scene changed, and the coach's figure appeared on the screen.
The leaders of the Three Universal Civilizations frequently appeared in the news, so Hila naturally recognized them. Her expression returned to its indifferent state, and she slowly spoke:
"I wonder what brings the Master to see me?"
Because of the tense relationship between the Arcane Church and the Black Star Army, Hila did not show much respect at this time.
The leader didn't mince words, saying simply, "I would like to invite you to join the Arcane Church."
"The leader of a cosmic-level civilization personally offered to recruit me; I am truly flattered... If Black Star were here, he would probably say the same thing," Hila said expressionlessly. "But I am not him."
The leader slowly said, "We've investigated you. You're someone who pursues power, and the Arcane Church can grant you immense power. I..."
"No need to say anything more, I refuse." Hila didn't want to hear it at all and answered decisively.
"... As long as you're willing to join, you can name any conditions you want."
"Not interested."
The leader paused, his expression unreadable. "Is your unwavering loyalty to Black Star related to personal feelings?"
"It's none of your business."
The leader nodded. "My promise is valid indefinitely. If you change your mind, the Arcane Church welcomes you to join us at any time."
After saying that, he hung up the call immediately.
Hila stared at the blacked-out virtual screen, her brows furrowing involuntarily.
The leader of the Arcane Church personally intervened, showing even more sincerity than the Crimson Dynasty. It is likely that this is precisely because of their hostile relationship that they are so keen to undermine the Black Star Army.
If an ordinary freshman Beyond Grade A student received this kind of treatment, they might have given in on the spot. However, leaving the Black Star Army was not within her consideration. Even if the Arcane Church's conditions were very generous, she would refuse without hesitation.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Emerald Star Cluster, several spaceships were slowly making their way towards the Black Star base.
The ship's insignia represents a small mercenary group, which looks like just an ordinary interstellar mercenary team, but actually carries several Beyond Grade A powerhouses from the Arcane Church.
"The leader's message has been conveyed: the attempt to win him over has failed; it's time to take action." Photon Sagman glanced at the communicator and spoke in a deep voice.
The Arcane Church had already prepared two plans. During this time, they had gathered Beyond Grade A members. If they failed to win over the leader, they would Thunder swiftly and decisively to eliminate Hila, lest things get complicated.
"The situation is in our favor. The Empire and the Black Star Army haven't yet discovered that we've assembled. We should act quickly and decisively, and avoid making the same mistake as last time," said Taylor of the World Gate.
Previously, due to the distance between star systems, it took a long time for Beyond Grade A to gather, and any actions they took would be detected long ago. Now, a large number of Beyond Grade A beings are in the Shattered World, which is much closer. This provides convenience for the Arcane Church's actions, allowing them to act before the enemy discovers them, leaving the opponent unprepared.
"It would be best to move Hila away from the stronghold; otherwise, the Empire's allies can quickly provide support through the stronghold's stargate."
"Leave that to Tolain. You go and challenge Hila again, try to lure her out as far away from the stronghold as possible," Sagman said.
Tolain hesitated, reluctantly agreeing, "I'll give it a try."
"Well, if Hila doesn't accept the challenge, we'll destroy the stargate passage to the stronghold first. It's a pity Sun Hunter isn't participating in this operation... Taylor, you're a mage, resourceful and flexible, so destroying the stargate will be left to you and me." Saying this, Sagman hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "As for the Black Star Dominion's avatar accompanying Hila..."
"I'll hold him off."
Just then, the previously silent avatar of Kasuyi spoke.
The Arcane Church offered sufficient benefits to get Kasuyi involved in the operation, but he disliked ganging up on others and bullying newcomers, so he sent an avatar as a backup plan.
"Alright, none of us are confident in dealing with Black Star's clone. Only Lord Kasuyi can suppress him." Sagman nodded.
"It's a pity. If Urnos had stepped in, Dead Sea would have been a piece of cake..." the Desolate Beast Motes muttered to himself.
"Don't even think about it. Urnos will never leave the Temple of All Gods; he doesn't get involved in such mundane matters." Taylor shook his head.
The Arcane Church has dispatched six Beyond Grade A individuals this time: Photon Sagman, World Gate Taylor, Desolate Beast Motes, Red Devil Tolain, an avatar of Kasuyi, and Dominion avatar of one of its mechanics.
Kasuyi's clones are similar in nature to the Dominion clones of the Mechanic Class, both carrying a portion of the original body's combat power. They are not comparable to the mass clones of the Sorokin with Quasi-Beyond Grade A combat power.
Although the numbers are the same as in the Battle of Lighthouse Star, replacing Sisko and his best friend Dilun with the clones of Kasuyi and another mechanic's Dominion clone actually increases the combat power significantly. Such a lineup is more than enough to deal with Hila.
Unlike Lighthouse Star, this time there are no Imperial allies stationed on the other side, especially Milizaus, and Black Star's true form is also absent, meaning they won't encounter the Space-Time Amber. With these advantages and disadvantages, the Arcane Church feels the situation is very favorable. Moreover, their target is Hila, not the persistent Black Star, making them much easier to deal with.
Without continuing to participate in the discussion, Kasuyi's clone turned his head and looked at the starry sky outside the porthole, his gaze deep and unfathomable.
"Manison, you won't do it, right...? If Hila dies, Black Star will definitely go berserk... Heh, this is a tough choice."
I understand what you mean, so let me play the role for you.
"... With me here, she won't die."